In what might be the most back-handed compliment about it yet, Gearbox’s Brian Martel has described the Wii U as a “really cool stop-gap” between the current console generation and the next.

“Right now we’re still finding out what kind of final tech specs the Wii U is going to have,” he tells IGN.

“But we like the system a lot; we think it’s going to be a really cool stop-gap in between this generation and the next generation. We think it’s really smart of Nintendo, and the fact that as a platform it’s a lot more capable for hardcore first-person shooter-style gaming – for us that’s fantastic.”

Gearbox is currently working on a Wii U version of Aliens: Colonial Marines, and – listening to screaming fans, no doubt – is considering the possibilities for the console’s tablet controller.

“So the obvious thing for us is that we can do the motion tracker [on the controller screen], or the sentry gun information – all that kind of stuf,” he says. “That stuff is really sexy for us. Getting the information off the screen and onto this device is a fantastic idea, right? So can we have a HUD-less environment? Yeah, probably.

That would be fantastic, right?